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Ferrari Takes GTE Pro And GTE Am Podiums In Shanghai

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Ferrari walked away from the 2016 FIA WEC 6 Hours of Shanghai with podiums in both GTE Pro and GTE Am thanks to strong performances from AF Corse.

The GTE Pro race was largely uneventful, save for the start. Immediately following the start, the LMP2 Manor of Mathias Beche spun, taking out the No. 97 GTE Pro Aston Martin and causing chaos through the field. Gianmaria Bruni managed to avoid the chaos in the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE, however the No. 71 sister car driven by Davide Rigon clipped a piece of debris and picked up a puncture.

Bruni capitalized on the chaos and moved his way into second, passing the No. 67 Ford GT. He wouldn’t stay there for long, however, as the Ford soon made up lost ground and easily passed the Ferrari. A release by Ferrari stated the two Ford GTs were “simply uncatchable,” in China, just as they were when the team went 1-2 in Japan last month. As such, the Fords again went 1-2, with Bruni forced to settle for third. The No. 71 488 recovered from the early puncture to turn up fifth.

In GTE Am, François Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard and Rui Aguas locked down a third place finish in the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia. The result essentially gives the trio the championship title – as all they have to do to lock it down is finish the next race in Bahrain. If their rivals at Aston Martin hope to win, they’ll have to take victory at both Bahrain and Sakhir.